5 times hot UFC prospects suffered shock defeats
In little over a week at UFC 267, hot prospect Khamzat Chimaev is set to return to action for the first time in a year when he faces off with top-15th ranked welterweight Li Jingliang.
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Li Jingliang targeted for UFC 267 in October (@guicruzzz, @mikeheck_jr) mmafighting.com/2021/7/9/22570… https://t.co/xi58GCPX3n
Khamzat Chimaev is favored by most UFC fans to defeat Li Jingliang. But if he fails to do so, he won’t be the first hot prospect to suffer a shock defeat inside the octagon.
Even some hot prospects who were eventually able to capture UFC gold suffered stunning upset losses along the way. This just goes to show how high the competition is in the UFC. However, these kind of upsets are shocking when they happen.
On that note, here are the five times when hot prospects in the UFC suffered stunning upset defeats.
#5. Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow – UFC 114
Back in 2010, the UFC had a number of high-level heavyweight prospects who would go onto achieve huge success. Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos all went onto hold UFC gold – and for a time, it looked like Todd Duffee would join them.
Duffee debuted in the UFC in 2009 at UFC 102. He set the record for the fastest knockout in the history of the heavyweight division when he stopped Tim Hague in just seven seconds.
The knockout sent shockwaves through the UFC. With Duffee sporting an unbeaten record of 6-0 as well as the physique of a cartoon superhero, it looked like the promotion had stumbled upon their next big superstar.
A mooted fight with Stefan Struve looked set to propel Duffee into the top ten. However, the clash fell apart due to injury, and instead, Duffee waited for nine months before returning to the octagon to take on Mike Russow.
Initially, the fight looked like it’d go the same way as Duffee’s debut. He smacked Russow around the octagon for the first two rounds, completely outclassing him, and looked to be on his way to a clear-cut decision win.
Somehow though, things changed in the third round. Seemingly out of nowhere, Russow caught Duffee with a clean right hand on the chin, and the big man went crashing to the ground. A single hammer fist followed, and Duffee was left unconscious.
Mike Russow knocked out Todd Duffee, 10 years ago today.
#UFC
https://t.co/ArW6F8GyPJ
Suddenly, any hype that Duffee had as a hot prospect was largely gone, and after a fallout with UFC management, he was released from the promotion. He would not return to the octagon for over two years, and hasn’t regained his momentum since then.